Wednesday, March 20, 2024

Vintage Easter Decorations

Hello, Friends,
How are you? 
I thought I'd share a few Easter pictures with you today. I had a lot of fun thrifting and adding to my Easter decor. If you have followed me for a while, you will know that we plan to move to our East Texas house when Bill retires. That house is half the size of our house in town. Last year I felt a lot of internal pressure to get rid of some holiday decor but since an addition is in the works for that house, the pressure is relieved a bit. I was able to add some new and new to me thrifted items to my current collection. I also tried to use all of my remaining decor rather than keep some of it in the closet for "someday".
This post will be picture heavy and I'll try to keep the chatting to a minimum. 
I'll include a couple of pictures from my pansy cabinet and the East Texas house too. 


I wanted this Vaillancourt rabbit but there was no way that I could justify $300.00 for it. 


Hobby Lobby had this blue rabbit and although the shape wasn't the same, it had good bones in order to recreate that look. 



 Images of actual Dutch Blue rabbits in addition to the $300.00 inspiration were used when I painted my rabbit. 

He's on the hutch in the entryway. 





I spotted the two white rabbits below when I was thrifting for clothes. 
I believe these were from Tuesday Morning, originally. That is where I got mine years ago.  I had the pair but broke one. The lone rabbit went out to East Texas and I've been on the lookout for years to replace the broken rabbit. I couldn't believe I finally found them. I bought both because they are so easy to style.  


Oh wow. Here is the one out in E.T. It's a different pose. Crazy. Someday the three of these will be used together. 



The bronze rabbits came from my step mother. They stay out until Christmas. We called them the snooty bunnies. 

Here are a couple of images from the kitchen. 


The rabbit with the basket has the antique look that I love. He is from Hobby Lobby. I did repaint his overalls because the lime green wasn't doing anything for him. I repainted the ribbon that is holding his egg backpack as well. 


I'm loving Bill's childhood alphabet blocks. I had to add some letters to his set. 




So much for not chatting! 
My mother's German doll house (above) is decorated for Easter with some faux eggs and a couple of chocolate rabbits. The one in the window is faux. Fairy lights on a timer illuminate it from within. 
A card from my first Easter is snugged in the niche. 


The dining room tablescape is set with new Lenox Spring Vista. I thrifted 10 pieces for $11.00. I augmented the set with an eBay win. 



Let's go to the garden room. It's one of our favorite rooms in the house and I'm happy to say we are recreating the same thing in East Texas. 



The bunny with glasses was a popular item a few years ago. I found mine last year for only $2.49. 
He stands watch over my favorite children's book. 
The rose covered gate came from the fairy garden section at Hobby Lobby. I think it is the cutest thing. It feels like the entrance to a secret garden. 



The holiday hutch is decorated in a pansy theme. It's one of my favorite flowers.






The framed fabric (above) was a doll pillow. I played with it when I was small but I think it was my mom's pillow.  It was pretty tattered in some spots which is why I framed it.


I adore the gray and green nursery planter. 





The lacy bundle contains coffee poetry written by my husband. 


Here are a few East Texas pictures for you. 







The bridal veil and the dogwood are in full bloom. 


Spring is here! 



I hope that you enjoyed this Easter/Spring inspiration. 
I hope you are well and I hope to see you soon. 
Katie 



Friday, February 9, 2024

An Addition For Our House In East Texas

How is everyone?
I hope you are well.


When we bought our East Texas house three and a half years ago, it jump started our talk of retirement and what we wanted to do and where we would want to live. We kept referring to our country experience  as our five year plan. Five years seemed a long way off. In no time at all we find ourselves 18 months out from Bill's retirement and decision time is nearing. There have been ups and downs in the last 3.5 years. 


We are a little split on the issue of retiring to the country. 
Bill is all set to live in East Texas. I'm a little unsure for several reasons. 
I've been dealing with back issues for about two years. Where I'd thought I was a bit invincible, I'm now a bit more reticent about my abilities to do all that I will able to do to maintain our house and property. 
What about doctors? They are further away but there is good medical care near by. 

I worried about making friends in a new community. We need a new church. I'm pretty shy and it takes me a while to form deep relationships. Is it wise to leave our family and friends? 


There are other concerns too but for this post's sake, I'll hop to the last reason. We have quite a few things that we've collected over the years and this house simply won't fit them all no matter how I try to mentally figure it out. 
Bill decided late last summer that we needed to add on to this house in order for me to overcome the downsizing hurdle. Thus began the process of figuring out what we need, what we want, and how to gain those things in this house and in a manner that looks authentic to the house.  
We called in a friend of ours who has a house plan business.  


Our extreme heat from last summer, caused me to realize that our darling screened in porch is just not practical. We need a room that works for all four seasons, not just 2.5. The ceiling is not insulated so the porch felt like an oven first thing in the morning until late in the evening. Bill was going to have to tear our the ceiling in order to insulate. Even though I love the space, it was the tipping point for me. I was ready to say that we should convert it to a four season room. We began to chat about enclosing the carport as well in order to have a larger room for more seating and another dining area. 


In September our friends came out to have a look so that they could begin drawing up some plans. Bill felt very strongly that we needed a bigger bathroom. The primary bath is basically a hallway. He also wanted another closet so that we don't have to share. I wanted a storage room for craft supplies and decor. 
Bill thought we should move the laundry to an addition so that we could convert the existing laundry room into a butler's pantry for my plethora of dishes. 


We got the first set of plans late last fall and immediately noticed that the new bathroom and closet were bigger than the current primary bedroom. By tearing out the existing closet and shower we could make our bedroom a little bit bigger so that it's in proportion to the bathroom. We can use the new area for a dressing area or a little reading nook with bookshelves. 

We sent those changes back and waited for plans that included the electrical and outside elevation. 
We received those plans two weeks ago. It seemed like there were too many windows so I decided to measure all of our furniture so that Bill could make little cutouts to scale. We had fun placing our favorites in various spots. It helped decide which windows needed to be removed in order to fit our larger case goods. 


 Currently, we are waiting for final plans that will include the electrical, elevation, and plumbing. 

Our next door neighbor does concrete. He has already given us a preliminary bid for the work. 
We also have our plumber, roofer, electrician and HVAC guy. We will need to have our flooring guy figure out the floors as well. While these vinyl plank floors are great for a weekend home, they do look a little fake. We need a framer and drywall guy and a painter to do the texture. 

 I've gone back and forth about whether this is the right thing to do given some of the reasons that I've stated above. I'm not really looking forward the building process. 
We've been praying about all of  this. 
 A few weeks ago, Bill decided to step across the street because he heard them building their house. 
He met two couples, they invited us to church which is 1/4 mile away. We've hit it off and
we also love the church. It seems that all the doors are opening and God is leading us to a place we can call home. 


Embarking on retirement feels a little like becoming engaged and waiting on the wedding or waiting for the arrival of a child. 
It's a happy time but it can also be stressful. Once I realized that it is a major life change, I've given myself permission to be uncertain of what the future holds but trusting that the Lord has directed our path so faithfully that He will direct our path now. 
"For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." Jeremiah 29:11. 
Have a great day. Thanks for sticking around. 
There will be more about this as we have new information and pictures. 
Katie